Dixie Fire Updates: Some Residents Refuse to Evacuate

U.S.|Despite the Dixie Fire’s destruction, immoderate residents aren’t evacuating.

• Aug. 9, 2021, 5:17 a.m. ET

As the Dixie Fire ravaging Northern California became the state’s 2nd largest connected grounds implicit the weekend, efforts to prevention tinder adust land, towns and homes from being destroyed person been analyzable by residents who aren’t heeding 1 order: evacuate.

As of Sunday night, the occurrence had burned astir 490,000 acres and was 21 percent contained, according to The New York Times wildfire tracker.

The occurrence started successful mid July, perchance by a histrion that fell onto a powerfulness enactment owned by Pacific Gas and Electric. It has affected 4 counties and destroyed much than 600 structures, including a ample swath of Greenville, a historical municipality of astir 1,000 people. A fistful of radical are missing, and nary deaths person been reported.

In Taylorsville, 10 miles southeast of Greenville, Susan Doran and her partner, Pete Neer, person calculated the risks and are committed to staying. “I’m not going to leave,” Ms. Doran said implicit the weekend.

The 2 said they could not wantonness their animals. “I’m not scared,” Mr. Neer said. “These fires, they’re ne'er going to get me.”

But this benignant of mind-set is frustrating the authorities and firefighters, who are moving grueling hours to effort to tamp down the inferno, and who accidental that those who enactment down marque their enactment adjacent much challenging.

“We person to spell successful and prevention those people,” Jeff Gillette, a firefighter and spokesperson for the Dixie Fire, said connected Friday. “Just similar Greenville.”

The Plumas County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday underscored the danger that persists, reminding radical who person evacuated that “while they are understandably anxious to get backmost to their homes and properties, the Dixie Fire is inactive active, and the nationalist indispensable stay retired of evacuation bid zones until they are downgraded to warnings oregon lifted.”

It is hard to foretell however upwind systems volition impact the fires, beardown winds could impact the country successful the coming days. Temperatures successful the country volition beryllium higher done the week, with a mean vigor risk, the National Weather Service said. An excessive vigor ticker is successful spot from Tuesday day done Saturday evening for areas crossed confederate Oregon and Northern California, including the Shasta and Klamath River Valleys northbound of the fire. Temperatures could scope up 112 degrees, with overnight lows successful the precocious 60s to mid-70s.

On Sunday evening, the authorities said occurrence enactment had accrued due to the fact that of debased comparative humidity and beardown southwest winds. Extreme drought conditions persisted successful the region.

“When you’re speaking of a occurrence of this magnitude, successful the country that it’s in, combined with the heat, the terrain is ever a factor,” said Mark Beveridge, a nationalist accusation serviceman with Cal Fire. “There are immoderate precise rugged, precise steep sloped hills that we’re trying to aggressively combat occurrence in.”

Mr. Beveridge said firefighters had seen “erratic occurrence behavior.” Comparing the magnitude of the Dixie Fire to that of the Camp Fire of 2018, helium said, “these fires are precise hard to control, they’re precise hard to contain, and it has aggregate factors down it.”

The Dixie Fire is surpassed successful size lone by the August Complex Fire, which started successful August 2020 and burned much than 1 cardinal acres, officials said. Most of the state’s 20 worst wildfires by acres person taken spot successful the past 2 decades, according to Cal Fire.